UFC 260 will air on ESPN+ on March 27, and will be main-evented by the Heavyweight Championship rematch between current champion Stipe Miocic and the holder of the hardest punch ever recorded Francis Ngannou. The rematch will take place 38 months or just over three years after the initial bout that saw Miocic retain his title after a five-round unanimous decision victory. Since then, the challenger is 4-1 and the champ is 2-1, both men losing their next fight then winning the rest.
Stipe Miocic is regarded as the greatest heavyweight in the UFC's illustrious history with the most successful defenses of his title; 4. Along with winning 8 of his last 9 fights since 2015, Stipe has beaten Ngannou, Werdum, Dos Santos, Overeem and Daniel Cormier twice in that time, finishing all but two of those fights by knockout.
Francis Ngannou was unknown by MMA fans 5 years ago as he only started training 6 years ago when he was 27-years old. This late start almost always leads to a quick and unsuccessful career due to lack of instincts built as a young man. For Francis Ngannou, instincts weren't as vital when he has his power. Francis Ngannou's right hook is equivalent to 96 horsepower, or a Ford Escort at top speed, which is the most powerful punch ever recorded in the history of Earth.
The match makes itself, the greatest versus the most powerful. The tough and resiliant champion versus the younger and better athlete challenger. If their first fight taught us anything it's that for Ngannou to have a chance beside a crazy knockout, he'' need to improve his wrestling significantly as Miocic's wrestling and ground and pound display was the first time Francis lost in the UFC.
The story outside of the story is what can really make this fight. The president of the UFC Dana White has announced that the winner of this historic Heavyweight Championship rematch will next face the greatest fighter of all time Jon Jones who will make his debut at heavyweight. Jones relinquished his Light Heavyweight title on August 17, 2020 after defeating everyone who was anyone amassing a 26-1 record with his only loss coming from a controversial DQ that saw the G.O.A.T. beat his opponent with illegal-deemed elbows. Immediately after vacation of his belt Jones announced he'd move up divisions and just a couple months later would be the next challenger for the title.
UFC fans are salivating over the potential matchups, either Ngannou vs Jones or Miocic vs Jones. While it would be wrong to speculate the champion at that time, it's not wrong to fantasize over it as the potential for a G.O.A.T. versus G.O.A.T. matchup between Miocic and Jones would probably draw one of the greatest buy-rates in UFC history for a card not headlined by an Irishman. Miocic and Jones are arguably the two toughest men to ever step into the octagon, both men with extraordinary wrestling backgrounds and vicious stand up games. A 31-year old flashy challenger versus a 38-year old humble badass. There have been many who believed Jones could beat anyone in the world remaining at 205 lbs., but Jones has put on about 30-40lbs. of muscle in preparation for his division jump making him the scariest man on the planet in most people's eyes, (including mine.)
` The road is set for the Heavyweight title over the next year, including the already greatest acclaimed heavyweight ever, the biggest, baddest & most powerful human in the promotion's history, and the greatest fighter ever. Who will be champion when the dust settles, only time will tell, but it will be a hell of a ride there and I won't miss a second with it.
Check out UFC 260 at MMA Complete UFC Live Reactions when our crew goes live for 7 hours again bringing you fresh commentary, a few laughs along the way and a bunch more hot takes involving the Heavyweight Championship and much more.
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